Canadian Solar Inc. one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, one of North America's largest solar project developers, signed an agreement with Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, giving Southern Power a controlling interest in the Garland solar photovoltaic (PV) project in California. The 200 MW AC project, developed by Recurrent Energy, is currently under construction.

Under the terms of the agreement, Southern Power will acquire 51% of the equity in the solar generation project. Canadian Solar will retain 49% ownership and contribute its share of the investment required to complete the construction of the project, which the Company has financed through a construction and back-leveraged loan facility with a syndicate of five banks.

The Garland project, covering an area of approximately 2,000 acres in Kern County, will primarily utilize Canadian Solar high performance CS6X-P photovoltaic solar modules mounted on single-axis tracking tables. The facility is expected to enter commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2016 with Signal Energy Constructors as the provider of engineering, procurement, and construction services. The project is expected to create more than 300 construction jobs and, when completed, is expected to be capable of generating enough solar energy to meet the energy needs of approximately 45,000 homes. The electricity and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by the facility will be sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) under long-term power purchase agreements.

This transaction represents Recurrent Energy's third venture with Southern Power, which also holds a controlling interest in the 200 MW AC Tranquillity solar facility in California and the 157 MW AC Roserock solar facility in Texas.

"With this agreement, Recurrent Energy and Southern Power are partnering to bring more than half a gigawatt of solar power online by the end of 2016," said Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "Southern Power's commitment to renewables underscores the important role of solar and is a clear indicator that our large-scale solar facilities are attractive assets."